Also in firearms, control means in form of hardware and software are more and more widely used. One example thereof are control means preventing unauthorized use of firearms and permitting authorized use of firearms, respectively. Control means for firearms are conventionally adapted for providing control functions and modes of operation specified during manufacture of weapons. However, general legal conditions as well as social expectations with regard to the use of firearms are constantly changing. For example, legal provisions for enhancing safety with respect to the use of firearms (e.g. prevention of use of firearms by unauthorized persons and/or in unauthorized areas) are altered time and again. Criminal offenses which are possible due to unwarranted use of weapons also result in a desire of the public for higher safety standards and levels for firearms. In addition, firearms used, for example, by police and military forces are expected to provide more and more different functions and modes of operations. In all cases, it has so far been required to modify the firearms accordingly—as far as at all possible—for example, by means of mechanical constructional modification, replacement of hardware and/or software of the control means. Even replacement or modification of software involves great efforts since, for example, simple software updates, which are common in conventional software applications, are not applicable in firearms for safety reasons.